GP Surhuisterveen, Super Prestige Trophy, Round 9Netherlands, December 30, 1998 |
Report
Results
Standings
The 1998-99 Super Prestige CupRound 1, Ruddervoorde, Belgium, October 24, 1998 Round 2, Asper, Belgium, November 15, 1998 Round 3, St. Michielsgestel, Netherlands, November 22, 1998 Round 4, Gieten, Netherlands, November 29, 1998 Round 5, Silvelle, Italy, December 8, 1998 Round 6, Overijse, Belgium, December 13, 1998 Round 7, Hoogstraten, Belgium, December 23, 1998 Round 8, Diegem, Belgium, December 27, 1998 Round 9, Surhuisterveen, Netherlands, December 30, 1998 Round 10, Wetzikon, Switzerland, January 24, 1998 Round 11, Harnes, France, February, 7, 1998 Race ReportWorld champion Mario de Clercq won the 9th round of the Super Prestige Trophy from two other Belgians Sven Nijs and Bart Wellens, to confirm the Belgian dominance of the 1998-99 cyclocross season. Veteran Dutchman, 39-year old Adri van der Poel was 4th and said later that he struggled against the Belgians but offered no excuses. "I am pleased with my form." There are questions being asked about his viability on the circuit now. Van Der Poel said: "I hope naturally to be able to win a race this season."Was he referring to the World Championship race in Poprad, Slovakia at the end of January? He had no special plans for the season. "I take each race as it comes. The form on the day is all I worry about. I will adopt this approach to the World Championships. To win that though I will have to be in super form." Talking about being in super form. At Surhuisterveen it was the 1998 World Champion Mario de Clercq who sizzled. He maintained the tradition of the current world champion winning this event. In doing so, he took his second victory in the Super Prestige Trophy (after previously winning at Asper) to add to his two second places at Sint-Michielsgestel and Overijse. Ten days ago he was brilliant at the World Cup race in Koksijde. De Clercq was honoured at the presentation of the race in the Friesland town. But he was critical of the parcours. He said it made a mockery of a major event circuit. "There is so much mud that I would be lying to say it was good." Van der Poel was also critical: "The circuit has been badly affected by the weather." However, the circuit was the same for everyone. De Clercq and Nijs went away quickly after the gun was fired by a government official in Friesland. Van der Poel was hard pressed to keep the pace and with the 20-year old Belgian Bart Wellens he trailed the leaders. Van der Poel had the additional burden of carrying the Dutch hopes with him after the other top rider Richard Groenendaal had been forced to take some rest due to a virus in his blood. Groenendaal's prospects for the World Championships are now in doubt. The race order remained unchanged through with De Clercq leading Nijs, with Wellens and Van Der Poel in third and fourth place, respectively. On the last lap, Nijs tried in vain to win his 5th Super Prestige Trophy race for this season (to join the immortals). De Clercq responded to his first attack with a a strong surge. Nijs, then on his last chance, went again. "Now or never" was how he characterised it. A slip though allowed De Clercq to come out of last corner in first place and he won by seconds. Round 9, Surhuisterveen1. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 1.00.47 2. Sven Nijs (Bel) 3. Bart Wellens (Bel) 4. Adri van der Poel 5. Wim de Vos (Ned) 6. Ben Berden (Bel) 7. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 8. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 9. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 10. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 11. Gerben de Knegt (Ned) 12. Arne Daelmans (Bel) 13. Camiel van den Bergh (Ned) 14. Marc Janssens (Bel) 15. Kris Wouters (Bel) 16. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 17. Erik Dekker (Ned) 18. Bram Schmitz (Ned) 19. Gretinus Gommers (Ned) 20. Pascal van Bussel (Ned) 21. Wilfried Veldkamp (Ned) 22. Jens Schwedler (Ned) 23. Jean Pierre Leyten (Bel) 24. Julien Smink (Ned) 25. Bert Vervecken (Bel) 26. Martin van Steen (Ned) 27. Martijn Mooi (Ned) 28. Eric Geysen (Ned) 29. Harm Bronkhorst (Ned) 30. Wilant van Gils (Ned) 31. Bjorn Schroder (Ned) 32. Frank Engelen (Ned) Women:1. Inge Velthuis 2. Ilona Meter 3. Elly van Boxmeer Super Prestige Trophy Standings after Round 9:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Total
1. Sven Nijs (Bel) 15 14 15 15 15 10 12 15 14 125
2. Bart Wellens (Bel) 0 13 12 13 12 13 15 14 13 105
3. Mario de Clercq (Bel) 13 15 14 0 10 14 3 12 15 96
4. Adri van der Poel (Ned) 12 10 1 11 13 11 11 13 12 94
5. Erwin Vervecken (Bel) 11 7 8 4 9 15 14 8 9 85
6. Ben Berden (Bel) 5 9 7 8 8 6 6 10 10 69
7. Richard Groenendaal (Bel) 14 12 4 14 3 12 9 0 0 68
8. Radomir Simunek (Cze) 0 5 9 7 11 9 8 9 8 66
9. Peter van Santvliet (Bel) 7 11 0 9 0 8 7 2 7 51
10. Daniele Pontoni (Ita) 8 0 0 5 14 0 13 11 0 51
11. Marc Janssens (Bel) 9 8 3 12 0 5 4 5 2 48
12. Wim de Vos (Ned) 0 0 13 10 0 0 5 7 11 46
13. Arne Daelmans (Bel) 0 0 5 6 0 7 10 1 4 33
14. Maarten Nijland (Ned) 3 1 2 2 5 4 0 4 6 27
15. Peter Willemsens (Bel) 10 0 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 20
16. Tom Vanhoppen (Bel) 0 3 6 0 0 2 2 6 0 19
17. Gerben De Knegt (Ned) 0 0 0 3 0 3 0 3 5 14
18. Gretinus Gommers (Ned) 0 0 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 12
19. Luca Bramati (Ita) 0 0 0 0 7 0 0 0 0 7
20. David Bertoni (Ita) 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6
21. Danny de Bie (Bel) 0 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
22. Peter van den Abeele (Be) 2 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
23. Paul Herijgers (Bel) 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6
24. David Willemsens (Bel) 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5
25. Bjorn Rondelez (Bel) 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 4
26. Kamil Ausbuher (Cze) 0 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 4
27. Camiel van den Bergh (Ned 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
28. Robert Glajza (Svk) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2
29. Kris Wouters (Bel) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1
30. Igor Tavella (Ita) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
For a listing of the races
|